Usui Reiki, as a modality and an art-form, has long been associated with healing and spiritual development. From the earliest traditions of Usui Sensei, there is a deep-rooted mission for nurturing ourselves and others through enlightenment. This was honed further into a practice that focused more on holistic healing, and was eventually packaged and branded for the Western market.
Over the past two decades, traditionalists have emerged in the West, whose mission is to get back to the early traditions of Usui and his more spiritually-natured perspective of Reiki experiences. In parallel with this, we have also witnessed the emergence of other Reiki modalities, which are as diverse as the people who originate them.
From Kundalini Reiki to my own Celtic Reiki, these newer forms of therapy have been met with enormous enthusiasm by some and staunch objection from others. From the thousands whose lives have changed through their interactions with these newer modalities, to those who believe that ‘Reiki’ was created by Usui and cannot be expressed in any other way.
Yet very few people have gone beyond the time frame of Usui, to research the Shinto and Taoist origins of Reiki as an autonomous force, outside of the Usui Reiki Therapy. Those who have explored the nature of Reiki in this perspective, along with the other facets of Ki, such as Jiki and Shioke, have come to understand that the magical forces from which ‘Ki’ is comprised, actually have a much broader scope when it comes to the human experience of life.
It is not until we apply these forces upon different aspects of our day-to-day living that we realise the ability Reiki and its siblings have to empower at a much richer level of being. Now, this is not simply a case of adapting the healing treatments of Usui (et al) for other aspects of life; it required the development of (in some cases) complex structures and frameworks that people can use to truly empower their relationships, business and professional lives, their interests, their success, sensuality, and even intellect, spiritual path, and eventual legacy.
Reiki is a force (energy), just as electricity is a form of energy. Electricity powers many things from lightbulbs to living cells, thunderstorms to thoughts. Each ‘thing’ has a specific design to make use of electricity in a purposeful way. You would not use an old gramophone to watch your favourite TV shows, or expect a single bacterium to power a city. Yet, Reiki Masters often use the same basic device for every possible scenario.
Sculpting useful and specifically designed methods for each aspect of your Reiki modality practice will help you to provide greater diversity of results to your students and clients. It will also ensure greater achievement and success. The question that immediately comes to mind is how do you design such methods?
The modality of Reiki you practice and teach comes from within. We can base it upon the teaching of Usui, or somebody else, but the modality is always expressed from your own perspective. Thus, your methods can either be derived from what inspires you, or an expression of how you understand the methods of others… either way they are always experienced from your perspective. Usui knew about Reiki from his own life experiences and immersion in Shinto and Taoist principles. He took this wisdom and applied it to his Teate method to create Usui Reiki, just as we use his teachings (and those of others) to apply to own own, unique modality of Reiki.
And, as you create new and powerful methods to integrate into your practice, your students will learn these from you and experience them from their own perspective, and so on. Thus, what we believe to be a modality of Reiki, such as Usui Reiki, Celtic Reiki, vReiki, is never really a constant entity… it is an ever-changing and evolving experience; a collection of tools that is unique for all who connect to the conscious experience of Reiki and the unlimited potential it holds for them.